Game program, storage medium, game device and game system

ABSTRACT

In a game program for a multiplayer game, when a player character receives damage and the strength level reaches a certain level, the player character goes into an extension state before death, in which the character is weakened but is able to recover. If a friendly player character performs a recovery action within a certain time from the weakened state having been reached, the player character in the weakened state recovers to a normal state. On the other hand, if the player character in the weakened state is attacked by an enemy character, or if the certain time has elapsed, the player character in the weakened state is caused to die and the game is ended.

INDUSTRIAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a game program that executes a game,such as an action game, in which a player character controlled by a userfights against enemy characters, a storage medium, a game device and agame system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There have been multi-player games, in which multiple player charactersappear in the game and cooperatively progress the story. Suchmulti-player games are divided into a type, in which player charactersare controlled by multiple controllers connected to a single gamemachine, and a type, in which multiple game machines are mutuallyconnected via a network and player characters are controlled by themultiple game machines.

In such multi-player games, there is a game where a player character iscaused to die, the player character is removed from the game, and thegame proceeds with the remaining player characters. Alternatively, thereis another game that ends (game is over) when one player character iscaused to die, and the game must be played by all players from thebeginning of the game or resumed from a saved point. An online actiongame called “MONSTER HUNTER” (trademark) is an example of the lattergame (Non-Patent Document 1).

Non-Patent Document 1: “Monster Hunter Portable 2nd Official Guidebook,”Enterbrain, Inc., Jul. 18, 2007, p. 34.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems Solved by the Invention

In the game that ends when one player character is caused to die asdiscussed above, because the game ends when a player character of anyuser is caused to die, the progress of the game depends on the playerwith the lowest skills. That is, because the player character with thelowest skill is the most likely to die, the game likely ends when such aplayer character is caused to die.

Therefore, the game progress depends on a lower skilled user even ifthere are higher skilled users in the plurality of users. Accordingly,there is a problem that the higher skilled users lose interest in thegame because they cannot make the most of their skills.

The present invention has an object to provide a game program, a storagemedium, a game device and a game system for a multi-player game, inwhich the game is prevented as far as possible from being ended by adeath of a player character of a less skilled user and in which the gameprogress is largely unaffected by the less skilled user.

Problem Resolution Means

A game program provided by the first aspect of the present inventiondrives a computer to function as: a game space control unit forgenerating a virtual game space; and a player object control unit forgenerating a player object operated by a user and for causing the playerobject to perform an activity in the game space based on operationalinformation, wherein a plurality of the player object control units isprovided to cause a plurality of player objects to perform activities inthe game space, and each of the player object control units includes: aunit for storing an activity ability value that indicates activityability of a corresponding player object; an activity ability valuecontrol unit for reducing the activity ability value when thecorresponding player object receives damage; a unit for maintaining theactivities by the corresponding player object for a predeterminedrecoverable time in a recovery wait state and for accepting apredetermined recovery action by another player object during therecoverable time when the activity ability value of the correspondingplayer object is reduced to a predetermined value; and a unit forcausing the corresponding player object to enter an activity inabilitystate when the recovery action is not received from the another playerobject within the recoverable time.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the computer isdriven to further function as an enemy object control unit forgenerating an enemy object that attacks the player object and forcausing the enemy object to perform activities in the game space, andthe activity ability value control unit includes a unit for reducing theactivity ability value when the corresponding player object receives anattack from the enemy object.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the enemy objectcontrol unit controls the enemy object so that the enemy object does notattack the player object in the recovery wait state during either a partof or an entirety of the recoverable time.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of theplayer object control units performs a process to end the game when apredetermined number of the plurality of player objects enters theactivity inability state, the predetermined number being less than thetotal number of the plurality of player objects.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of theplayer object control units performs a process to end the game when allof the plurality of player objects enter the activity inability state orthe recover wait state.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the player objectcontrol unit prohibits activities, excluding movement, based on theoperational information when the corresponding player object is in therecovery wait state.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the player objectcontrol unit causes the corresponding player object to enter theactivity inability state when the corresponding player object receivesan additional damage in the recovery wait state, regardless of therecoverable time.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the player objectcontrol unit reduces a remainder of the recoverable time by apredetermined amount when the corresponding player object receivesadditional damage in the recovery wait state.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when thecorresponding player object receives a recovery action from anotherplayer object in the recovery wait state, the player object control unitsets a remainder of the recoverable time at that time as thepredetermined recoverable time for a subsequent recovery wait state.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the player objectcontrol unit sets the predetermined recoverable time for the subsequentrecovery wait state as a preset maximum recoverable time when thecorresponding player object in the recovery wait state has received arecovery action including a specific action from another player object.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the computer isdriven to further function as one or a plurality of game image drawingunits for generating one or a plurality of the game images correspondingto a part of or the entire plurality of player objects, and each of thegame image drawing units includes a unit for generating an image of thegame space including the corresponding player object and generates anexclusive game image that is different from a normal game image when thecorresponding player object enters the recovery wait state.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the computer isdriven to further function as one or a plurality of the game imagedrawing a unit for generating one or a plurality of the game imagescorresponding a part of or the entire plurality of player objects, andeach of the game image drawing units includes a unit for generating agauge that displays an activity ability value of another player objectand for changing a display format of the gauge of the another playerobject when the another player object enters the recovery wait state.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the computer isdriven to further function as one or a plurality of game image drawingunits for generating one or a plurality of game images corresponding apart of or the entire plurality of player objects, and each of the gameimage drawing units includes a unit for generating an image of the gamespace including the corresponding player object and for generating afigure indicating a direction of a location of the another player objectin the image of the game space when the another player object enters therecovery wait state.

A computer readable storage medium provided by the second aspect of thepresent invention includes a game program recorded therein, the gameprogram causing a computer to function as: a game space control unit forgenerating a virtual game space; and a player object control unit forgenerating a player object operated by a user and for causing the playerobject to perform an activity in the game space based on operationalinformation, wherein a plurality of the player object control units isprovided to cause a plurality of the player objects to performactivities in the game space, and each of the player object controlunits includes: a unit for storing an activity ability value thatindicates activity ability of a corresponding player object; an activityability value control unit for reducing the activity ability value whenthe corresponding player object receives damage; a unit for maintainingthe activities by the corresponding player object for a predeterminedrecoverable time in a recovery wait state and for accepting apredetermined recovery action by another player object during therecoverable time when the activity ability value of the correspondingplayer object is reduced to a predetermined value; and a unit forcausing the corresponding player object to enter an activity inabilitystate when the recovery action is not received from another playerobject within the recoverable time.

A game device provided by the third aspect of the present inventionincludes a game space control unit for generating a virtual game space;and a player object control unit for generating a player object operatedby a user and for causing the player object to perform an activity inthe game space based on operational information, wherein a plurality ofthe player object control units is provided to cause a plurality of theplayer objects to perform activities in the game space, and each of theplayer object control units includes: a unit for storing an activityability value that indicates activity ability of a corresponding playerobject; an activity ability value control unit for reducing the activityability value when the corresponding player object receives damage; aunit for maintaining the activities by the corresponding player objectfor a predetermined recoverable time in a recovery wait state and foraccepting a predetermined recovery action by another player objectduring the recoverable time when the activity ability value of thecorresponding player object is reduced to a predetermined value; and aunit for causing the corresponding player object to enter an activityinability state when the recovery action is not received from anotherplayer object within the recoverable time.

A game system provided by the fourth aspect of the present inventionincludes a plurality of game devices being connected to each otherthrough a network, each of the game devices including: a game spacecontrol unit for generating a virtual game space; and a player objectcontrol unit for generating a player object operated by a user and forcausing the player object to perform an activity in the game space basedon operational information, wherein a plurality of the player objectcontrol units is provided to cause a plurality of the player objects toperform activities in the game space, each of the player object controlunits includes: a unit for storing an activity ability value thatindicates activity ability of a corresponding player object; an activityability value control unit for reducing the activity ability value whenthe corresponding player object receives damage; a unit for maintainingthe activities by the corresponding player object for a predeterminedrecoverable time in a recovery wait state and for accepting apredetermined recovery action by another player object during therecoverable time when the activity ability value of the correspondingplayer object is reduced to a predetermined value; and a unit forcausing the corresponding player object to enter an activity inabilitystate when the recovery action is not received from another playerobject within the recoverable time, each of the game devices furtherincludes: an operation unit for inputting operational information from auser; and a communication unit for transmitting the operationalinformation outputted from the operation unit to the another game deviceand for receiving operational information from another game devicethrough the network, and the player object control unit of the gamedevice each causes the plurality of player objects to perform activitiesin the game space based on the operational information outputted fromthe operation unit and the operational information received from theanother game device.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a game program is provided thatrelates to a multi-player action game, in which the game is notimmediately terminated even when an activity ability value of a playerobject becomes zero, and in which the game progress is hardly affectedby the skill of a single users.

In addition, even when the activity ability value of the player objectof the less skilled user becomes zero, other player objects can recoversuch player object. Therefore, mutual cooperation and/or mutual supportbetween the player objects may be established in the multi-player game.Thereby, the more skilled users can affect the game progress.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an outer view of a video game machine, to which thepresent invention is utilized.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the video game machine.

FIG. 3 illustrates a structure of a game device formed by a game programand the video game machine.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate hit point gauges displayed in a game image of thegame device.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate game images of an action game executed by thegame device.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate game images of an action game executed by thegame device.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate game images of an action game executed by thegame device.

FIG. 8 illustrates a game image of an action game executed by the gamedevice.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow diagram showing an operation of the gamedevice.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flow diagram showing an operation of the gamedevice.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram showing an operation of the gamedevice.

FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate flow diagrams showing an operation of thegame device.

FIG. 13 illustrates a game system formed by connecting a plurality ofgame devices through a network.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS

50 Operation detection part

51 Game progress control part

52 Player character control part

53 Enemy character control part

54 Player character A control part

55 Player character B control part

56 Game space control part

57 Drawing processing part

58 Player character A image drawing part

59 Gauge drawing part

60 Image synthesizing part

61 Player character B image drawing part

62 Gauge drawing part

63 Image synthesizing part

101 Player character A

102 Player character B

110 Enemy character (zombie)

121, 122 Hit point gauge

125 Guide arrow

EMBODIMENTS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE INVENTION

A game program and a game device, which are embodiments of the presentinvention, are explained with reference to the drawings.

First, a video game machine, on which a game program is executed, isexplained. FIG. 1 is an outer view of the video game machine (computer),on which the game program is executed.

The video game machine is configured with a controller 20 connected to agame machine main body 10. The controller 20 is operated by a user. Theuser controls a player character or the like that appears in the gameusing the controller 20. The game progresses by executing a processcorresponding to the user's operation on a game device formed by thegame program and the video game machine. The game may be discussed inthe below explanations with the player character as the subject and withthe movement of the player character.

The game machine main body 10 includes a tray 11, to which a recordingmedium (storage medium) 15, in which a game program is recorded, is set.The recording medium 15 is a digital versatile disc (DVD), for example.The game machine main body 10 reads out a game program from therecording medium 15 and executes the program. The recording medium 15may not be a DVD but may be a compact disc (CD), a BLU-RAY DISC(registered trademark), or an internal hard disk.

Two connectors 12, to which the controller 20 is connected, are providedon a front surface of the device. Two memory slots 13, to which anexternal memory 45 (see FIG. 2) is set, also are provided on the frontsurface of the device. The external memory 45 is a card-shaped storagemedium, which has a flash memory therein.

The controller 20 has an approximately U shape and is operated as theuser holds wing handles by both ends. On the upper surface of the leftand right sides of the controller 20, control buttons and analog sticksare provided as a control unit group. By operating these control buttonsand analog sticks, the player characters and camera positions arecontrolled. In response to the operations of these by the user, theplayer character in the game performs motions, such as walking, holdinga gun and turning.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal structure of the gamemachine main body 10 and the controller 20.

The game machine main body 10 includes a central processing unit (CPU)31 that controls the operation of the entire device. A random accessmemory (RAM) 32 and a bus 33 are connected to the CPU 31. Various datais stored in the RAM 32 in response to the game progress.

To the bus 33, a graphic processor unit (GPU) 34 and an input/output(I/O) port 39 are connected. To the GPU 34, an external monitor(television device; TV) 38 is connected via a decoder 37 for convertingdigital image signals into a NTSC or PAL television format.

To the I/O port 39, a driver (DRV) 40 for reproducing and decoding datarecorded in the recording medium 15, such as an optical disk, a soundprocessor (SP) 42, an external memory 45, the controller 20, a read onlymemory (ROM) 46 and a communication control part 47 are connected.

The control unit group 22 on the controller 20 are connected to the I/Oport 39 of the game machine main body 10 via an I/O port 21. Thecommunication control part 47 communicates with other game devicesthrough a network, such as the Internet. The communication control part47 transmits operational information outputted from the control unitgroup 22 of the controller 20 to the other game devices, and receivesinformation such as operational information outputted from thecontroller of the other devices.

A system program is stored in the ROM 46 for starting the game machinemain body 10 and executing basic functions. User information, anintermediate status of the game being executed or the like is stored inthe external memory 45. As the user sets the recording medium 15, onwhich the game program is stored, and the external memory 45, the gamethat had been stopped can be resumed from the stopped timing.

The sound processor 42 is connected to an external speaker 44 via anamplifier 43. The speaker 44 is a speaker integrated with the monitor 38built in the television device.

Next, the game program executed by the video game machine is explained.The game provided by the game program is an action game, in which eachstage is cleared as the player character controlled by the user beatsenemy characters in the stage. The game progresses as a plurality ofplayer characters controlled respectively by other users fight againstenemy characters, such as zombies and monsters, by using weapons, suchas guns and knives. In the below embodiment, a game, in which two playercharacters (player characters A and B) are controlled by two users, isdescribed as an example. However, the number of the users and/or playercharacters is not limited to two.

Each player character has a parameter of a hit point. The hit point is aparameter to allow the character's activities. The hit point increaseswhen the player character takes an item that becomes nutritious for theplayer character and decreases when the player character receives anattack (damage) from an enemy character or is hit by his own attack(e.g., hand grenade) (self-destruction). The player character dies whena certain length of time elapses after the hit point reaches zero. Inaddition, because there are many points in the game where the two playercharacters must cooperate with each other in order to pass, the game canno longer progress if one of the player characters is caused to die, andthus, the game ends. The hit point corresponds to an activity abilityvalue of the present invention.

However, in this game, the player character stays alive for a certainlength of time after the hit point reaches zero. By receiving a recoveryaction (treatment) by the other player during this time, the hit pointrecovers slightly, and the player character can return to the normalactivity state. That is, in this game, the player character is notcaused to die immediately when the hit point reaches zero. However, anextension period (recoverable period) is provided for a certain lengthof time, during which the player character can be recovered by anassistance of the other character. A state of the player characterduring this extension period is called “weakened state.” The weakenedstate corresponds to a recovery wait state of the present invention, anda death of the character corresponds to an activity inability state.

By providing a period of such a weakened state, because a user mayrealize that a partner's player character is in a weakened state and isable to recover the player character, sudden ending of the game due tothe death of the partner's player character can be prevented. Moreover,because the user can prevent the partner's player character from dyingby the user's operation, the progress of the game can be controlledbased on the user's skill even if the partner's skill is low. Further,closeness between the users can be increased as the users help eachother.

The player character in the weakened state can only move slowly (wobble)and cannot perform the recovery activity by himself. In addition, whenthe partner's play character enters a weakened state, a mark that warnsthe weakened state of the partner's player character and indicates alocation of the partner's player character is displayed on the gamescreen of the player character controlled by the user. Therefore, theuser is quickly able to rescue the partner's player character.

The game device that includes functional parts shown in FIG. 3 isconfigured by reading the game program on the above-described video gamemachine. The game device includes a operation detection part 50, a gameprogress control part 51, a player character control part 52, an enemycharacter control part 53, a game space control part 56, a drawingprocessing part 57 and the like. The operation detection part 50includes a data processing part formed from the CPU 31, the RAM 32 andthe like, the controller 20 and the communication control part 47. Theoperation detection part 50 detects various operations by the user andtransmits them to the game progress control part 51. The game progresscontrol part 51 includes the data processing part formed from the CPU31, the RAM 32 and the like. The game progress control part 51 generatesa virtual game space and characters and progresses the game byperforming processes, such as changing the above-described game spaceand controlling activities by the characters, in response to the useroperation and/or elapsed time.

The game progress control part 51 includes the player character controlpart 52 that controls activities by the player characters, the enemycharacter control part 53 that controls activities by enemy charactersthat fight against the player characters, and the game space controlpart 56 that generates a three-dimensional game space and controlsenvironments, such as weather. The player character control part 52controls activates by the player characters based on the operationalinformation outputted from the operation detection part 50. The enemycharacter control part 53 generates enemy characters in the game spaceand causes to perform activities (fighting) in response to theactivities by the player characters. The game space control part 56generates a game space of a game stage selected based on the operationalinformation outputted from the operation detection part 50.

The player character control part 52 controls activities of the twoplayer characters in the game and includes a player character A controlpart 54 that controls activities of the player character A and a playercharacter B control part 55 that controls activities of the playercharacter B. The player character A control part 54 and the playercharacter B control part 55 send and receive data, such as positionalcoordinates and hit points, to and from each other and consistentlyobtain information indicating the status of the other character.

The drawing processing part 57 generates an image of the game space, inwhich the game space, player characters and enemy characters generatedby the game progress control part 51 are projected on a two-dimensionalscreen, and outputs to a monitor. Therefore, the drawing processing part57 receives activity data of the player character A controlled by theplayer character A control part 54 and activity data of the playercharacter B controlled by the player character B control part 55 andgenerates and outputs two game images that are different from eachother.

A player character A image drawing part 58 draws an image of a gamespace viewed from a virtual camera positioned on a rear side of theplayer character A. A gauge drawing part 59 generates a large gauge thatdisplays a hit point of the player character A and a small gauge thatdisplays a hit point of the player character B. An image synthesizingpart 60 synthesizes the large and small gauges generated by the gaugedrawing part 59 on a right side edge of the image of the game spacedrawn by the player character A image drawing part 58. The synthesizedimage is the game image for the player character A and is displayed on ascreen area assigned to the player character A.

Similarly, a player character B image drawing part 61 draws an image ofa game space viewed from a virtual camera positioned on a rear side ofthe player character B. A gauge drawing part 62 generates a large gaugethat displays a hit point of the player character B and a small gaugethat displays a hit point of the player character A. An imagesynthesizing part 63 synthesizes the large and small gauges generated bythe gauge drawing part 62 on a left side edge of the image of the gamespace drawn by the player character B image drawing part 61. Thesynthesized image is the game image for the player character B and isdisplayed on a screen area assigned to the player character B.

The drawing processing part 57 displays the game image at full screenwhen only one of a game image of the player character A, in whichvarious gauges and the like are synthesized with the above-describedgame space viewed from the virtual camera on the rear side of the playercharacter A, and a game image of the player character B, in whichvarious gauges and the like are synthesized with the game space viewedfrom the virtual camera on the rear side of the player character B.Moreover, when both the game image of the player character A and thegame image of the player character B are displayed on a single monitor,the game image of the player character A is displayed in a left upperscreen area of the monitor, and the game image of the player character Bis displayed in a right lower screen area of the monitor, as shown inFIGS. 5-7.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate the large and small hit point gauge formed in thegame image of a player character. FIG. 4A illustrates a hit point gaugein a normal state. FIG. 4B and 4C illustrate a hit point gauge displayedin the weakened state. FIG. 4A is an enlarged image of a hit point gauge121L of a player character A (Chris) shown in FIG. 5A. FIG. 4B is anenlarged image of the hit point gauge 121L of the player character Ashown in FIG. 5B. FIG. 4C is an enlarged image of the hit point gauge121L of the player character A shown in FIG. 6A.

The hit point gauge 121 is a gauge that indicates a hit point by alength of a circular arc bar 130 (center angle of the circular arc). Inthe normal state, the bar 130 is green and extends in a clockwisedirection from the top end (12 o'clock). As shown in FIG. 4A, when thehit point is 100%, the bar 130 extends around (center angle=360°) and iscircular. When the hit point decreases, the length of the green bar 130of the hit point gauge 121 is reduced from the top in a counterclockwisedirection. A center of the hit point gauge 121 is an information displaypart 131, which shows an image of an item equipped by the playercharacter A in the normal state. In this figure, the information displaypart 131 shows that the player character A is equipped with a pistolloaded with ten bullets.

In the weakened state shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, the bar 130 becomes redand displays a recovery energy by the length (center angle). FIG. 4Bshows the hit point gauge immediately after entering in the weakenedstate, in which the recovery energy is 100% (30 seconds). In contrast,FIG. 4C shows the hit point gauge after a certain length of time haselapsed after entering the weakened state, in which the recovery energyis reduced nearly by a half. In the weakened state, the informationdisplay part 131 displays a word “DYING.” Moreover, in the weakenedstate, a red corona ring 132 is displayed around the hit point gauge121.

The action game according to the embodiment is explained in furtherdetails with reference to the game images shown in FIGS. 5-8. FIGS. 5-8illustrate game images showing scenes of the action game. FIGS. 5-7 showscenes where the player character A (referenced by 101 in the figures)enters a weakened state due to an attack by an enemy character 110 andis recovered by a recovery action (treatment) by the player character B(referenced by 102 in the figures). In FIGS. 5-7, a game image 70 of theplayer character A (Chris) and game image 71 of the player character B(Sheva) are displayed side-by-side in a single monitor 38 (game screen).This is a display form for a case, in which two users play the game atthe same time by connecting two controllers 20 to a single game machinemain body 10. The game images 70 and 71 show images of a virtual camerataking an image of a game space from the rear side of the respectiveplayer character and display a hit point gauge and the like therein.

FIG. 5A illustrates a game image, in which a zombie 110, which is anenemy character, is about to attack the player character A. The playercharacter A holds a gun in his hand and prepares for the attack by thezombie 110. The player character B also holds a rifle in her hands andwatches the zombie 110 carefully. Because neither player character hasreceived an attack, the hit points of both characters are 100%.

FIG. 5B illustrates a game image of a moment when the hit point of theplayer character A reached zero after the player character A hadreceived the attack from the zombie 110. The hit point becomes zero ifdamage that exceeds the remaining hit point at the time of the attack isreceived from the attack by the enemy character. Then, the playercharacter A enters the weakened state. The bar 130 of the hit pointgauge 121L that indicates the hit point of the player character A turnsinto red from green, and a word “DYING” appears in the informationdisplay part 131 in the center.

In contrast, at the moment when the hit point of the player character Areaches zero, the game image 71 of the player character B is processedas discussed below to inform the player character B that the hit pointof the player character A has reached zero. A virtual camera image ofthe game image 71 is momentarily switched to a virtual camera image ofthe player character A, which is reversed into a negative image (for 1second or less). At the same time, an arrow 125 that indicates adirection to the player character A from the player character B isdisplayed. The hit point gauges 121S and 122L, which are displayed inthe game image 71, are not reversed into negative images. Of these, forthe hit point gauge 121S that indicates the hit point of the playercharacter A, the bar 130 is changed from green to red, and the word“DYING” is displayed in the information display part 131 in the center,similar to the one displayed in the game image 70 for the playercharacter A.

Based on the above-discussed process, the fact that a player characteron the team is in a dangerous condition can be quickly informed, and theposition of the player character can be notified. In addition, anopportunity is given to the user to treat the player character indanger. Further, by switching the screen suddenly and momentarily, astrong impact is provided, and more intimidating situations can bepresented.

FIG. 6A illustrates a game image after a few seconds since the playercharacter A has entered the weakened state. The virtual camera image ofthe player character A is filtered in red and distorted, which presentsa state that the player character A is semiconscious. In addition, theuser's operations for the player character A other than movementoperation are refused, and the moving speed of the player character A ismuch slower than the normal state.

The enemy character 110 (not shown in FIG. 6A) does not attack theplayer character A with no hit point for a predetermined length of time(e.g., 5 seconds). That is, the enemy character 110 observes the playercharacter A, for a while, to determine whether the player character Ahas died. Because the player character A is alive in the weakened state,the enemy character 110 resumes to attack the player character A afterthe predetermined length of time. The time for the player character A toescape from the enemy character 110 is secured from this predeterminedlength of time.

Then, the red bar 130 of the hit point gauge 121 for the playercharacter A is reduced in the counterclockwise direction as the timeelapses. This is because the hit point in the weakened state can only bemaintained for certain recovery energy (e.g., 30 seconds), and the redbar indicates the remaining recovery energy (remaining time). When therecovery energy reaches zero (when a recoverable time has elapsed)without being recovered (without a recovery action by the partner'splayer character), the player character A in the weakened state dies,and the game ends (see FIG. 8). The user (player character B), whoattempts the recovery action (treatment), can determine the urgency intime and head to the rescue based to the display of the hit point gauge121S for the player character A on his game image.

FIG. 6B illustrates a game image of a scene, in which the playercharacter B approaches the player character A for a recovery action(treatment). When the player character B heads to rescue the playercharacter A based on the arrow 125 on the game image and approaches theplayer character A within the time with the remaining recovery energy, aguidance for a

(“Treatment”) with a button operation is displayed in the game image 71of the player character B.

FIG. 7A illustrates a game image of a scene, in which the playercharacter B is performing the recovery action (treatment) on the playercharacter A. When the user of the player character B operates thecontroller 20 based on the guidance, the player character B touches thebody of the player character A to perform the treatment. The recoveryaction (treatment) is not limited to normal recovery actions that areperformed based on the displayed guidance but may be performed by use ofa recovery item possessed by the player character B on the playercharacter A. If the recovery action is performed by use of an item, theplayer character A can be recovered quickly by receiving more hit pointsthan the normal recovery action. The recovery action by use of an itemcorresponds to “a recovery action including a specific action” of thepresent invention.

FIG. 7B illustrates a game image of a scene, in which the playercharacter A has recovered as a result of the recovery action by theplayer character B. The player character A recovers from the weakenedstate as the player character B performs the recovery action based onthe displayed guidance. As a result, the game image of the playercharacter A returns to a normal image, and the bar 130 of the hit pointgauge 121 for the player character A returns from a red bar, which isreduced by time, to a green bar indicating a small hit point. The reasonthat the player character A gets only the small hit point is that thesmall hit point is considered sufficient to avoid the dangerouscondition of the weakened state. The restriction in the weakened state,which is only to move, is released, and the player character A canperform any entire normal activities. Therefore, more hit points may beobtained if the player character A possesses and uses a recovery item.

The game image of the player character B also returns to a normal image,and the arrow 125 that indicates the position of the player character Adisappears. Moreover, the word “DYING” in the image display part 131 ofthe hit point gauge 121S for the player character A disappears, and thehit point gauge 121S returns to a green gauge with a small hit point.The player character B is not affected negatively by performing therecovery action (treatment), such as reducing his hit point. However,when the player character B recovers another player character on theteam by using his item, the item is, of course, consumed.

FIG. 8 illustrates a game image that is displayed when the playercharacter A dies. If the player character A receives additional damagesfrom an enemy character while in the weakened state, or if therecoverable time has elapsed in the weakened state without beingrecovered, the character A dies. Because the game ends when one of theplayer characters A and B is caused to die as discussed above, the gameends as soon as the player character A dies. Although the game imagesare displayed in the image area set respectively for the playercharacters A and B during the progress of the game, as soon as one ofthe player characters (in this case, player character A) dies, only agame image that shows a dead player character on the ground isdisplayed, and the game ends when an indication that the game is over isdisplayed.

Operations of the above-discussed game device are explained withreference to flow diagrams in FIGS. 9-12. FIG. 9 is a flow diagramshowing a process by the player character A control part 54 in thesituations shown in FIGS. 5-8. First, the player character A controlpart 54 determines whether or not the player character A received damagefrom an attack by an enemy character or the like (510). If damage hasbeen received (Yes, 510), the player character A control part 54determines whether or not the hit point of the player character A hasreached zero (S11). If the hit point has reached zero (Yes, S11), theplayer character A control part 54 notifies the player character Bcontrol part 55, which controls the player character B, and the enemycharacter control part 53, which controls the enemy character, that thehit point of the player character A has reached zero (S12), and thebelow process is performed to place the player character A in a weakenedstate.

The player character A control part 54 first sends a command to thegauge drawing part 59 to change the color of the bar 130 of the hitpoint gauge 121 from green to red and to display the word “DYING” in theinformation display part 131 in the center of the hit point gauge 121(S13). At the same time, the player character A control part 54 sends acommand to the player character A image drawing part 58 to apply a redfilter on the entire image of a virtual camera and to distort the image(S14).

Next, the player character A control part 54 switches motion data thatcontrols the walking of the player character A to motion data for theweakened state (S15). More specifically, the motion data is replaced bymotion data for slow wobbling. In addition, the player character Acontrol part 54 accepts only a moving operation among operationsinputted by the user and refuses other operations (attacks, use ofitems, etc.) (S16). As a result, the player character A is allowed torecover from the weakened state only by the recovery action by thepartner's player character B.

The player character A control part 54 sets “thirty (30)” for therecovery energy for the player character A (energy to maintain theweakened state for 30 seconds) (S17) and determines whether or not theplayer character A received damage by an enemy character (S18) andwhether or not the recovery energy has reached zero (S21). If the playercharacter A has received damage (from an enemy character) (Yes, S18) orif the recovery energy of the player character A has reached zero (Yes,S21), the player character A control part 54 performs a death processfor the player character A (S19) and notifies the players character Bcontrol part 55 and the enemy character control part 53 that the playercharacter A has died (S20), and the game ends. At this time, not onlythe game of the dead player character A but also the game of theco-playing player character B end.

The enemy character is configured so that it does not attack the playercharacter A for 5 seconds after the hit point of the player character Ahas reached zero (see FIG. 11).

If the player character A does not receive damage (No, S18), and ifthere is remaining recovery energy (No, S21), the player character Acontrol part 54 determines whether or not a recovery action has beenperformed by the player character B (S22). If a recovery action has beenperformed by the player character B (Yes, S22), the player character Acontrol part 54 releases a weakened state (S23). The releasing of theweakened state is a process to increase the hit point of the playercharacter A by a certain amount, to return the display of game imageincluding the hit point gauge to a normal image, to release the inputrestriction of the user operation, and the like. The player character Acontrol part 54 switches the game image and moving operation to thenormal state, and the process returns to the damage determination (S10).

If there has not been a recovery action by the player character B (No,S22), the player character A control part 54 reduces the recovery energyof the player character A (S24), and the process returns to thedetermination of damage (S18) and to the determination as to whether ornot the recovery energy has become zero or less (S21). The result ofreduction of the recovery energy at S24 is notified from the playercharacter A control part 54 to the gauge drawing parts 59 and 62 of thedrawing processing part 57. Based on the reduction, the red bar 130 inthe hit point gauges 121L and 121S that are displayed in the game images70 and 71 are updated so that the bar 130 is shortened.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram showing a process by the player character Bcontrol part 55 in the situations shown in FIGS. 5-8. The playercharacter B control part 55 first determines whether or not the hitpoint of the player character A has reached zero (S31). If the hit pointof the player character has reached zero (Yes, S31), the playercharacter B control part 55 performs the below image changing process.

The player character B control part 55 first sends a command to theplayer character B image drawing part 61 to momentarily display an imageof a virtual camera for the player character A that is reversed into anegative image (S32). At the same time, the player character B controlpart 55 sends a command to the player character B image drawing part 61to display the arrow 125 that guides the position of the playercharacter A (S33). The guide arrow 125 is displayed as the playercharacter B control part 55 receives the positional information of theplayer character A from the player character A control part 54. Based onthe process of the above-discussed S24, the display of the hit pointgauge 121S in the game image 71 is also changed in parallel.

After this, the player character B control part 55 determines whether ornot the player character A has died (S34) and whether or not a recoveryoperation by a control of the user's controller 20 (recovery action bythe player character B; see FIGS. 6B and 7A) has been performed (S36).

If the recovery action has been performed (Yes, S36), the playercharacter B control part 55 notifies the player character A control part54 of the recovery action (S37) and releases the display correspondingto the weakened state of the player character A (e.g., S33), such asremoving the display of the arrow 125 based on the weakened state of theplayer character A (S38). Then, the process returns to the determinationof the hit point of the player character A (S31).

On the other hand, if the player character A has died (Yes, S34),because the image showing the death of the player character A isdisplayed at full screen, the player character B control part 55 erasesthe game image of the player character B (S35). The game endsthereafter.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram showing a process by the enemy charactercontrol part 53 in the situations shown in FIGS. 5-8. First, the enemycharacter control part 53 determines whether or not the hit point of theplayer character A is zero (S51). If the hit point of the playercharacter A is zero (Yes, S51), the enemy character control part 53 setsa timer for 5 seconds (S52) and changes an attack pattern for the playercharacter A in the weakened state (S53). More specifically, the attackpattern is changed to avoid attacking and to simply follow and watch theplayer character A in the weakened state. After 5 seconds are elapsed(Yes, S54), the enemy character control part 53 returns the attackpattern for the player character A in the weakened state to the normalattack pattern (S55). As a result, the enemy character can attack theplayer character A in the weakened state thereafter.

In the process by the player character A control part 54 shown in FIG.9, the recovery energy of the player character A always starts from 30when the player character enters the weakened state. In addition, theplayer character A is configured to immediately die if the playercharacter A receives an attack from an enemy character when the playercharacter A is in the weakened state. However, processes shown in FIGS.12A and 12B are also possible instead.

In the processes shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the default recovery energyof the player character A is 30. However, the recovery energy after thesecond time starts from the remaining recovery energy in the previousweakened state, resulting a more difficult recovery. However, if theplayer character A recovered by a recovery action using a recovery itemin the previous weakened state, the recovery energy in the subsequentrecovery state is made to return to 30. In addition, if the playercharacter A in the weakened state is attacked by an enemy character, theplayer character A control part 54 does not cause the player character Ato die immediately, but reduces the recovery energy by a predeterminedvalue (e.g., 15) and determines whether or not the player character A isdead based on the remainder of the resultant recovery energy.

FIG. 12A illustrates a process that is executed instead of S17-S24 inFIG. 9. At S16 in FIG. 9, the player character A control part 54 isconfigured to accept only movement operations of the operation inputs bythe user and refuse the other operations, and then performs the processafter S61. First, the player character A control part 54 sets a recoveryenergy counter by loading a recovery energy value stored in a recoveryenergy value storage area of the RAM 32 (S61).

The player character A control part 54 then determines whether or notthe player character A has received damage from an attack by an enemycharacter (S62), whether or not the recovery energy has reached zero(S64), and whether or not a recovery action has been performed by theplayer character B (S67). The player character A control part 54continues to reduce the recovery energy (S68) and waits until any one ofthe above determinations is made. Based on the reduction of the recoveryenergy, the red bar 130 of the hit point gauge displayed in the gameimage is updated to be shortened.

If the player character A has received damage from the enemy character(Yes, S62), the player character A control part 54 subtracts “fifteen(15)” from the recovery energy (S63), and process moves to S64. If therecovery energy of the player character A reaches zero after elapsingtime or by damage from an enemy character (Yes, S64), the playercharacter A control part 54 performs a death process on the playercharacter A (S65) and notifies the player character

B control part 55 and the enemy character control part 53 that theplayer character A is dead (S66). The game then ends.

If a recovery action has been taken by the player character B (Yes,S67), the player character A control part 54 determines whether arecovery item was used in this recovery action (S69). If a recovery itemwas used in the recovery action (Yes, S69), the player character Acontrol part 54 sets “thirty (30)” to the recovery energy counter (S70),and the process moves to S71. If a recovery item was not used in therecovery action (No, S69), the process skips S70 and jumps to S71. AtS71, the player character A control part 54 saves a recovery energyvalue of the recovery energy counter in the recovery energy valuestorage area (S71) and releases the weakened state of the playercharacter A (S72). This process of releasing the weakened stateincreases the hit point of the player character A by a certain value,returns the display of the game image including the hit point to anormal display, and releases the restriction in accepting the useroperation. The process returns to the damage determination at S10thereafter.

In the case of a type shown in FIG. 12A that subtracts the recoveryenergy, an initial value needs to be set for the recovery energy. FIG.12B illustrates an initial value setting process that sets the initialvalue for the recovery energy. This process is executed by the playercharacter A control part 54 when the game starts and sets 30 to therecovery energy counter (S60).

In this embodiment, the explanations are made for the case, in which theplayer character A falls in a weakened state, and in which the playercharacter B performs a recovery action. However, the character in theweakened state and the character to perform the recovery action may beswitched. In addition, the number of player characters in the game isnot limited to two. Moreover, any player character may fall in theweakened state, and any player character may perform the recoveryaction. In that case, the processes relating to the player character inthe weakened state and the processes relating to the player characterperforming the recovery action are the same as above.

Further, the game images shown in FIGS. 5A-8 illustrate scenes, in whichthe player character A enters a weakened state as a result of an attackby an enemy character. However, the present invention is applicable in acase in which the hit point becomes zero by damage from an attack by anon-enemy character, such as self-destruction by the player characterand an attack from a partner's player character.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the explanations aremade for the case, in which only the player character A falls in aweakened state. However, if both of the player characters A and B fallin the weakened state, because there would be no player characters thatcan perform a recovery action, and thereby because the player characterscan no longer be recovered, the game progress control part 51 terminatesthe game immediately without waiting for the recoverable time to elapse.This is similar for the case with three or more player characters. Ifall of the player characters are dead or fall in the weakened state, thegame progress control part 51 terminates the game at that time.

In addition, in this embodiment, the process sets recovery energy forthe player character in the weakened state and reduces the recoveryenergy to provide a recoverable time of 30 seconds. However, arecoverable time (30 seconds) may be directly set, which is timed by atimer to measure the recoverable time.

In this embodiment, as an example, the explanations are made with aplayer character that performs activities as a human in the game as aplayer object. However, the player object of the present invention isnot limited to humans but may be non-human beings and machines, such asrobots, fighter jets and tanks, that perform activities in the gamespace.

In the above-described embodiment, the explanations are made with aconfiguration, in which multiple (2) controllers 20 are connected to asingle game machine main body 10 to perform motion controls for theplayer characters A and B by the respective controllers 20. However, thepresent invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, apart of the multiple players may be operated by a CPU (artificialintelligence; AI) of the game device. Moreover, the present invention isapplicable in a game system in which a plurality of game devices isconnected through a network or the like.

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram showing a game system 300, inwhich a server device 301 and two game devices 350-1 and 350-2 areconnected to each other through a network 310. Similar to theabove-described video game machine, each of the game devices 350-1 and350-2 includes at least one controller connected thereto and a displaythat displays the game image.

In this game system, the player character A is operated by the gamedevice 350-1 (with controller), and the player character B is operatedby the game device 350-2 (with controller). The operational informationof the player character A inputted to the game device 350-1 controls themotion of the player character A in the game executed by the game device350-1. In addition, the operational information of the player characterA is transmitted to the game device 350-2 through the network 310 andvia the game server 301 and also controls the motion of the playercharacter A in the game executed by the game device 350-2.

Similarly, the operational information of the player character Binputted to the game device 350-2 controls the motion of the playercharacter B in the game executed by the game device 350-2. In addition,the operational information of the player character B is transmitted tothe game device 350-1 through the network 310 and via the game server301 and also controls the motion of the player character B in the gameexecuted by the game device 350-1. The display of each game devicedisplays a game image corresponding to the controlled player characterat full screen.

This example is explained based on a case of two player characters. Withthree or more player characters, the number of game devices 350 thatcorresponds to the number of player characters may be connected to eachother through the network 310, and the player characters may becontrolled by the respective game devices 350.

Moreover, in the above-described example, the operational information ofthe player characters is exchanged via the server device 301. However,the game devices may directly communicate using a technology such aspeer-to-peer.

INDUSTRIAL USABILITY

The present invention may be used in industrial fields for manufacturingand selling arcade and consumer games.

1. A game program driving a computer to function as: a game spacecontrol unit for generating a virtual game space; and a player objectcontrol unit for generating a player object operated by a user and forcausing the player object to perform an activity in the game space basedon operational information, wherein a plurality of the player objectcontrol units is provided to cause a plurality of player objects toperform activities in the game space, and each of the player objectcontrol units includes: a unit for storing an activity ability valuethat indicates activity ability of a corresponding player object; anactivity ability value control unit for reducing the activity abilityvalue when the corresponding player object receives damage; a unit formaintaining the activities by the corresponding player object for apredetermined recoverable time in a recovery wait state and foraccepting a predetermined recovery action by another player objectduring the recoverable time when the activity ability value of thecorresponding player object is reduced to a predetermined value; and aunit for causing the corresponding player object to enter an activityinability state when the recovery action is not received from theanother player object within the recoverable time.
 2. The game programaccording to claim 1, wherein the computer is driven to further functionas an enemy object control unit for generating an enemy object thatattacks the player object and for causing the enemy object to performactivities in the game space, and the activity ability value controlunit includes a unit for reducing the activity ability value when thecorresponding player object receives an attack from the enemy object. 3.The game program according to claim 2, wherein the enemy object controlunit controls the enemy object so that the enemy object does not attackthe player object in the recovery wait state during either a part of oran entirety of the recoverable time.
 4. The game program according toclaim 1, wherein the plurality of the player object control unitsperforms a process to end the game when a predetermined number of theplurality of player objects enters the activity inability state, thepredetermined number being less than the total number of the pluralityof player objects.
 5. The game program according to claim 1, wherein theplurality of the player object control units performs a process to endthe game when all of the plurality of player objects enter the activityinability state or the recovery wait state.
 6. The game programaccording to claim 1, wherein the player object control unit prohibitsactivities, excluding movement, based on the operational informationwhen the corresponding player object is in the recovery wait state. 7.The game program according to claim 1, wherein the player object controlunit causes the corresponding player object to enter the activityinability state when the corresponding player object receives anadditional damage in the recovery wait state, regardless of therecoverable time.
 8. The game program according to claim 1, wherein theplayer object control unit reduces a remainder of the recoverable timeby a predetermined amount when the corresponding player object receivesadditional damage in the recovery wait state.
 9. The game programaccording to claim 1, wherein when the corresponding player objectreceives a recovery action from another player object in the recoverywait state, the player object control unit sets a remainder of therecoverable time at that time as the predetermined recoverable time fora subsequent recovery wait state.
 10. The game program according toclaim 9, wherein the player object control unit sets the predeterminedrecoverable time for the subsequent recovery wait state as a presetmaximum recoverable time when the corresponding player object in therecovery wait state has received a recovery action including a specificaction from another player object.
 11. The game program according toclaim 1, wherein the computer is driven to further function as one or aplurality of game image drawing units for generating one or a pluralityof the game images corresponding to a part of or the entire plurality ofplayer objects, and each of the game image drawing units includes a unitfor generating an image of the game space including the correspondingplayer object and generates an exclusive game image that is differentfrom a normal game image when the corresponding player object enters therecovery wait state.
 12. The game program according to claim 1, whereinthe computer is driven to further function as one or a plurality of thegame image drawing units for generating one or a plurality of the gameimages corresponding a part of or the entire plurality of playerobjects, and each of the game image drawing units includes a unit forgenerating a gauge that displays an activity ability value of anotherplayer object and for changing a display format of the gauge of theanother player object when the another player object enters the recoverywait state.
 13. The game program according to claim 1, wherein thecomputer is driven to further function as one or a plurality of gameimage drawing units for generating one or a plurality of game imagescorresponding a part of or the entire plurality of player objects, andeach of the game image drawing units includes a unit for generating animage of the game space including the corresponding player object andfor generating a figure indicating a direction of a location of theanother player object in the image of the game space when the anotherplayer object enters the recovery wait state.
 14. A computer readablestorage medium including a game program recorded therein, the gameprogram causing a computer to function as: a game space control unit forgenerating a virtual game space; and a player object control unit forgenerating a player object operated by a user and for causing the playerobject to perform an activity in the game space based on operationalinformation, wherein a plurality of the player object control units isprovided to cause a plurality of the player objects to performactivities in the game space, and each of the player object controlunits includes: a unit for storing an activity ability value thatindicates activity ability of a corresponding player object; an activityability value control unit for reducing the activity ability value whenthe corresponding player object receives damage; a unit for maintainingthe activities by the corresponding player object for a predeterminedrecoverable time in a recovery wait state and for accepting apredetermined recovery action by another player object during therecoverable time when the activity ability value of the correspondingplayer object is reduced to a predetermined value; and a unit forcausing the corresponding player object to enter an activity inabilitystate when the recovery action is not received from another playerobject within the recoverable time.
 15. A game device, comprising: agame space control unit for generating a virtual game space; and aplayer object control unit for generating a player object operated by auser and for causing the player object to perform an activity in thegame space based on operational information, wherein a plurality of theplayer object control units is provided to cause a plurality of theplayer objects to perform activities in the game space, and each of theplayer object control units includes: a unit for storing an activityability value that indicates activity ability of a corresponding playerobject; an activity ability value control unit for reducing the activityability value when the corresponding player object receives damage; aunit for maintaining the activities by the corresponding player objectfor a predetermined recoverable time in a recovery wait state and foraccepting a predetermined recovery action by another player objectduring the recoverable time when the activity ability value of thecorresponding player object is reduced to a predetermined value; and aunit for causing the corresponding player object to enter an activityinability state when the recovery action is not received from anotherplayer object within the recoverable time.
 16. A game system including aplurality of game devices being connected to each other through anetwork, each of the game devices including: a game space control unitfor generating a virtual game space; and a player object control unitfor generating a player object operated by a user and for causing theplayer object to perform an activity in the game space based onoperational information, wherein a plurality of the player objectcontrol units is provided to cause a plurality of the player objects toperform activities in the game space, each of the player object controlunits includes: a unit for storing an activity ability value thatindicates activity ability of a corresponding player object; an activityability value control unit for reducing the activity ability value whenthe corresponding player object receives damage; a unit for maintainingthe activities by the corresponding player object for a predeterminedrecoverable time in a recovery wait state and for accepting apredetermined recovery action by another player object during therecoverable time when the activity ability value of the correspondingplayer object is reduced to a predetermined value; and a unit forcausing the corresponding player object to enter an activity inabilitystate when the recovery action is not received from another playerobject within the recoverable time, each of the game devices furtherincludes: an operation unit for inputting operational information from auser; and a communication unit for transmitting the operationalinformation outputted from the operation unit to the another game deviceand for receiving operational information from another game devicethrough the network, and the player object control unit of the gamedevice each causes the plurality of player objects to perform activitiesin the game space based on the operational information outputted fromthe operation unit and the operational information received from theanother game device.